


let’s go to the garden (you’ll find something waiting)

by Buttercup_ghost



Series: everything stays (but it still changes) [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: (I’ve drafted and planned stuff but that’s it), Abandonment, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Alternate Universe - Dark, Angst with a Happy Ending, Background Relationships, Canon Rewrite, Dark, F/F, F/M, Homeworld Hierarchy (Steven Universe), Homeworld is Horrible, Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Issues, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Lesbian Pearl (Steven Universe), Mental Anguish, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Movie rewrite, Multi, Other, Past Relationship(s), Rewrite, Steven Universe: The Movie, goes w the su rewrite I’m doing that I haven’t finished writing (at all), no diamond redemption, the first chapters notes are way longer than the first chapter sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-10 19:28:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20533349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buttercup_ghost/pseuds/Buttercup_ghost
Summary: After years of conflict and the fallout, Steven has finally returned to earth. He’s not the same as before, but then again, no one is. He’s resolved himself, though, to put everything behind him, to finally rest - if anyone has, he’s sure he’s earned his ‘happy ending.’And then spinel showed up.





	let’s go to the garden (you’ll find something waiting)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She waits. And waits. And waits.
> 
> Until she doesn’t. Until a boy with tired eyes and a strained smile, so familiar, appears before her, just a message, as unreachable as her, now. 
> 
> And then she breaks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Cowboy voice) howdy y’all
> 
> Uhhhh. I know I have a bunch of other stuff to write but. The su movie came out & I was like. Psh yeah who cares? I dropped su years ago. But then,,, but thEN. YouTube recommended me other friends, and I was like “huh, wouldn’t hurt to just watch it once, the character design is cool”
> 
> And then. I fell in love. I was like, “who is this gorl??” At spinel and found what she was saying (‘her other friends’ & ‘she brought _you_ with her. Well. Isn’t that. Just _swell?_ ’) and what pearl was saying (like how she knew her/about her) interesting and so one thing lead to another and there I was at three am crying bc SPINEL. OOF. OH JESUS. Pink, what the heck?__
> 
> _ _From there I started watching these clips, and just... remembered how much I used to love and care about this series/show before, well... they tried to redeem fascist leaders. Which... was pretty weird/bad. I’m all for villain redemptions but... I think there are lines you can’t come back from, like. Literally leading the oppression of like so many gems & literally lead a war to _keep_ oppressing them???? Not to mention being pinks abusers??? It leaves a bad taste to try and redeem them, like... and have no consequences? Dude? They... continue to lead this species they fucked up/over? Hello? And I know people are going to be like “oh you just don’t believe people can change” but no. They can? But that’s not the point/issue? Like... I don’t know man. Changing doesn’t mean all your sins are obsolete. You’ve gotta face the shit you did, gotta try and... make up for it? That’s not quite the right word though. Atone? Own up to it. Face the consequences and recognize that you need to. Ya know? And being a facist leader is really fucking big, so the punishment should be, too. Or like. At least not “ohoho everything’s okay bc ur family or w/e and you feel bad. Those ppl you killed & lives u ruined? Haha who cares about that lol. You can totally keep ruling this society you already fucked to hell and back. It’s a great idea.” Like.... idk dude. Seems. Hm :/_ _
> 
> _ _(Any comments that attack me for having this frankly valid opinion will be deleted btw)_ _
> 
> _ _Here’s a video essay that explains it a lot better than I could (or well. Have the spoons to tbh) if u wanna hear more on why it’s bad : https://youtu.be/flLEr_sYC-k (yeah it’s two hours long but it makes some good points & explains really well so if you have time it’s a rlly good watch! I don’t think I agree completely w everything and/or woulda phrased it a lil different but I do see their points & where they’re coming from tbh)_ _
> 
> _ _It really sucks bc I used to! Love su so much. I started watching waayyy back, like. Back when Stevens Leon came out. I’ve cared about these characters so long. So, I decided that they deserve better than what they got in canon. Tbh, I was thinking of rewriting it just in general before but... lost passion, honestly. And didn’t really know what to do w it. But now I’ve got a clearer vision!_ _
> 
> _ _Tbh, the main fic (and maybe even this one) is gonna be slow updating, bc I do want to prioritize the other series I’m working on. I’ve started a mystic messenger rewrite that I want to focus on more & I want to finish the prologue (?) for my bnha rewrite, as well as the first real chapter of my bnha watch the show fic. I also want to finish my time loop naezono fic & Naegi sibling centric chat fic..I’m also still developing/planning my dr rewrite, that after I finish the previously mentioned things I’ll probably focus on._ _
> 
> _ _I also started writing/drafting a miraculous ladybug rewrite, too. That’ll also be on the back burner, I think. I do want to finish this movie rewrite soonish though! I’m mainly just going to be going slow with the main series rewrite, bc I’m not quite sure how I want to start it, tbh. Young(er)/pre-development Steven is harder for me to write, I think? Bc while he still has some issues he’s also childish and naive still, and it’s hard to balance, w out making him TOO childish and naive, or stupid. You know? So I think it’ll help if I start of where I want his character to _go,_ if that makes sense._ _
> 
> _ _Whooh. Long note, done! Onto the story, now._ _
> 
> _ _General Warnings for abandonment issues, mental anguish, servitude, identity issues, & mentions of past self harm. Just general mental health issues, in general, tbh. There be trauma!_ _

How long had it been? 

How long has she stood here? 

She wasn’t sure. Her eyes felt heavy, shadowed. Tiredness weighed down her limbs. Still, she stood, as unmoving as she could. Even as her smile dropped, and eyebrows furrowed.

Had she... done something wrong?

_Why wasn’t pink back yet?_

She wished she could shake her head, to try and dispel the thoughts. But she couldn’t, because the rules said clearly: stand as still as she could. She would do just that, waiting for her friends return. She could do that much. For her friend, she would do anything.

She smiled. Pink was so sad, but here in the garden, she smiled. This was their place—where they could laugh freely, without anyone interfering. 

Pink wouldn’t abandon that.

Pink wouldn’t abandon _her_.

They made each other happy. They made each other smile, and laugh, and let go. Here in the garden, sadness didn’t exist, responsibilities void. It was just the two of them, and the memories they would make. A light thing. A happy thing.

So, just like pink did, she smiled, awaiting her return. Her friend would be back, she just had to wait. Even as the years turned to centuries... she just had to wait.

Wondering when her friend would be back, and greet her with her smile, she waited.

Happily, she waited.

Until, finally. A message. She perked up, staring at the window that opened. Was the game over yet? It wasn’t very fun, anymore. She hoped so. She missed pink.

Instead of her friend, though, a boy stood. Half dried tears clung to his lashes, but his eyes were dry. Tired.

In fact, all of him looked tired. His face looked older than it should, wary. She couldn’t help but think that his face suited a smile more.

As if hearing her thoughts, the boys lips curled up. Exhausted, spent, but with a undercurrent of victory, of relief. Genuine, yet sad, and it made her heart hurt. Even as the remains of tears hugged him, his smile was radiant.

It was so painfully nostalgic, her breath catched, something like dread sinking like a stone.

He was clutching three bubbles, all her shade.

Who was he? Who was he? Who was he?

_Where was pink?_

She inhaled air she didn’t need, her lungs constricting. The boy talked, and she could hear white noise buzzing in her ears, so loud it was ringing.

No.

No. No. _No_.

Tears burst fourth in her eyes. Her legs, which had remain planted on the ground for six thousand years, moved at last. Her feet pried from the ground, where the planted tried to make her at home. Rooted. Forever. Like _she_ wanted.

NO.

Her son smiled, genuine and hopeful, wariness folded heavy in his eyes. And suddenly, she knew why - knew why such an expression was so familiar to her. She could see traces of her within him, a blurry outline. The tears didn’t stop burning, flowing out like they were endless. 

He didn’t get to look like that.

He shouldn’t get to look like that.

_Why wasn’t she here? _

_It wasn’t fair._

Her legs gave out, and she curled into herself, kneeling on the ground in a mockery of prayer. She wraped her arms around her, clutching herself, a cheap imitation of a hug, eyes still flowing. She could almost imagine her arms around her, as she picked her up and spun. But those arms were gone now.

Gone, never to come back.

The tears came angrily, and she _screamed_.

She doesn’t know how long she stayed like that. Doesn’t know, it felt like forever. A year slips through her fingers with rage and pain, screaming and crying and numbly staring, a cycle. Her finger keeps finding repeat, the message playing over and over on a loop. Her hands tangle in her hair. She hides her face with agony in her veins.

His voice grates on her, and she grits her teeth.

Finally, after forever and nothing, she looks up, tear tracks on her face. Her buns have come lose, her form darker. Fuller than her once brilliant shade, less valuable. She doesn’t care. She doesn’t care.

She’s _angry_. She’s _hurt_. She... 

His smiling face remains on the monitor, and she _laughs._

**She wouldn’t _ever_ accept such an ending.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so short btw..... also you are legally required to be sad about spinel


End file.
